The Fifth Disc
by 05mtb09
Summary: A young man plays through the game once more for old time's sake and finds a fifth disc, which transports him into the world of FF8 one year after Ultimecia's defeat. Contains various themes like drama, action, romance. T for mild language, mild violence.
1. From Bed to Bench

**Legal mumbo jumbo:** I don't own anyone or anything in the Final Fantasy universe. This is all for my personal entertainment and yours as well. Anything that goes on here does not represent the ideas of those at Square and should not be taken as canon to their story and game.

**Warning:** If you're deathly afraid of any profanity whatsoever, you may not want to read. I try not to bog it down too much, but then again, this is my story and this is how I would react to these situations and it's my foul mouth so I can say what I want. Also, I can tell you that in the distant future there will be male-female relations as well as male-male relations. They will not be explicit at all (when it comes to sex), so I doubt anyone will have a problem with it, but if you do, then be aware and you should see it coming. _I will not place anymore warnings in my chapters_.

**Introduction:** Alright so before you get reading, I'd like to say that this is my first fanfic and I'm very excited for it, and I appreciate any feedback (whether it's positive or negative, so long as it's constructive). OC fics have a bad rep and I'd like to change that; I've poured my heart into this and spent loads of time working on this when I should be doing things like studying for midterms or doing homework :) . I'd also like to thank 'xianghua 4 kilik 4ever' and 'Takayu' for volunteering to proofread my chapters and offering corrections and suggestions. I get my best ideas by bouncing them off other people. They helped me get these first few chapters off to a good start, but now I'm going solo (from chapter 4 and on).

Some of you might be opposed to this, but the story is written in the first person from my point-of-view. There will be some digressions into the third-person for the sake of plot (interesting things can go on without my character's knowledge).

I currently have many random scenes worked out in my head (the very end included), so hopefully updates won't be few and far between. Alas, it is the school year, and my priorities lie with academics and my job first and foremost, so please be patient with me.

**Author's Note: **This chapter was a lot of fun to write. I had it worked out in my head for the longest time and I'm glad to get it down on paper. I feel it starts the story off with a bang and gets things moving. I'm hoping it will suck my readers in and get them interested right off the bat ;)

Alright then, let's get to it!

**Chapter 1: From Bed to Bench**

I lay on my bed, covered in sweat, despite a fan on the desk at my feet blowing on me, and another one from the ceiling circulating the air. I look out the window at the clear blue sky and think, _Such a pretty day today… but way too hot to be outside._

We were going through a heat wave here in sunny southern California, and it was only the middle of June! Usually they don't hit until August and September. I look back at my small television across the room, sitting on my dresser. I yawn as I realize my latest cure of boredom has run out. The end credits of Final Fantasy VIII had finally finished. It had been many years since I last played the game, but it was a good one at that, and I needed an entertaining way to kill a few weeks while my brain was rebuilding itself from the difficult school year.

I throw the controller to my side and let it bounce on the bed. While stretching and yawning again, I walk over to the PlayStation and suddenly something strange happens. An image appears on the TV. It looks like one of those "Please Insert Disc whatever" messages.

_That's impossible_, I think, _I just beat the game and took care of that dumb Ultimecia whore._

I laugh and read the message aloud, just to be absolutely sure it says what I think it says. "Please insert disc 5. Sure thing, let me get it," I say sarcastically.

I pull the jewel case off my shelf and open up the second compartment where the third and fourth discs go.

"Oh, shit!" I gasp as I drop the case on the floor.

The cause of my surprise, a fifth disc, pops out and lands next to the case. It's completely blank, black on one side (the side with the data) and white on the other. I stare at it for a minute before I do the inevitable and place the disc in the console. The image fades and the screen remains blank. Right as I reach to turn it off, I hear some blips and bleeps and see a bunch of random colors and pixels flash across the screen.

"Weird," I mutter as the screen goes back to being blank. I turn off the TV set and the PlayStation and open up the lid.

_Wow… ok… I must be going mental._

I never thought it was possible to become insane and start imagining things at the flip of a switch, but here I am staring at an empty PlayStation. Yes, empty. Empty as in: lacking the non-existent Disc 5 of FF8 I just put in there. It's not like I was up all night and afternoon playing this, it definitely wasn't sleep deprivation. But I decided to lie down and take a nap anyway. I have never experienced anything like this before, but hopefully a nap will make it go away.

I close the shades and jump on my bed, lying on top of the covers in my clothes. I blindly reach over to my side and feel around until I find my stereo remote and turn it on. I have got to cover up the noisy fan with some nice music. I close my eyes and fall asleep, the sound of the music and the feeling of hot air fading.

I rolled around on something solid. My bed was a little stiff, but it never felt as hard as a wooden bench! I drowsily opened my eyes and sat up. I wish I could have seen my face, I must have been completely bewildered considering I was sitting on a wooden bench in the middle of some strange village or town. It looked slightly medieval in a way. The road was made of stone instead of asphalt, and the buildings were made of stone and wood, and had a curvy architecture. Wooden signs hung down from chains attached to awnings. People were milling about, dressed not quite like people from medieval times, but not quite 21st century either. I smelled salt water as I felt a cool sea breeze blow by. It was a bit cooler than my room, and the sky was a light blue with a few puffy clouds spread about. A couple walked by me and looked at me strangely in silence, and then continued on down the road, chatting quietly amongst themselves (probably about me). My eyes then came across a multi-storied building across the street and I read the big sign above the door, "Balamb Hotel".

_Hmm, I knew this place looked familiar… Whoa! Wait, what!? No way! Oh, fuck me!!_

This was quite a strange dream I was having. Never have I had a dream that felt so real and was so detailed, let alone a dream that I felt conscious in. I rubbed my eyes and the familiar videogame town was still in front of me. Then I slapped my own face, lightly at first and then harder and harder. A small crowd had begun to gather around me because of my antics. I stood up and started spinning around to look at all the faces staring at me.

"Where am I? What is going on here!? What the ffff… Oh my god," I screamed in despair.

I felt weak in my knees and quickly bent over as I gagged and dry-heaved. I have a strong stomach, but even this was becoming too much to handle. Despite the absurdity of my position, I still felt a small bit of comfort knowing that I wasn't spewing my guts out in front of this crowd of people that weren't so pixilated anymore.

"Get outta here you damn drunk!" I heard someone yell at me.

Someone else called out in the distance, "Hey check out this guy! It's hilarious!"

I regained my strength and quickly stood up. I pushed my way through a few people and ran towards the town entrance. Amazing how I knew exactly where to go and had a small sense of familiarity even though it still looked like a completely new place. I would have liked to hang around a while and take everything in, and see things that I wasn't able to see before when I played the game. I chuckled to myself at that thought.

_There is no way this is real, it's impossible to be transported into some digital, programmed universe, right?_

I was beginning to doubt physics and logic and reason as my feet pounded the solid ground and I heavily breathed in the cool air. This felt too real to be just a figment of my (or someone else's) imagination.

I sat down on some grass outside the town entrance and leaned against the blue, stone wall, catching my breath and trying to calm myself. Luckily I wound up in the most familiar location of the game and I didn't need a red, lizard-like spaceship or an over-sized, yellow bird to get anywhere. I gazed across the plains, from the mountains to my left, to the beach to my right. There is only one other form of civilization on this island, and it's the only logical place to go: Balamb Garden.

This entire situation felt so unreal and so unbelievable, yet somehow I willed myself to keep going and not worry about it yet. I'll think about the details later, right now I just need to get to Balamb Garden and hope that Headmaster Cid, or Squall, or heck even the self-titled Mr. Know-It-All occult-enthusiast Zell might know something of my predicament and more importantly, how to get out of it.

As I paced along the winding road, I reminisced on some thoughts from when I was younger. When I was a kid I had always thought it would be cool and fun to enter a videogame world and meet some of the characters and fight some bad guys and all that fun stuff. But why now? I'm twenty years old for god's sake! That was kiddy stuff, I've got a life to live in a world of my own. I don't need to be mucking around in some imaginary place making invisible friends! Then I thought back to that mystical Disc 5. How could putting in a fifth disc to a videogame, then having it go berserk on my PlayStation before it vanishes into thin air, bring me into this world?

"Oh man," I sighed as I thought of the ludicrousness of my day.

Suddenly I heard a rustle in a nearby forest. This can't be happening! Why now!? I was almost to Garden, I could see it about half a mile ahead. Why does a monster have to come pester me now? I was almost curious, though, to see what it would look like when it came to face me. It was probably a measly Bite Bug, but I was playing a videogame! I couldn't feel any pain when I got attacked! My characters knew how to fight, they're trained to be mercenaries! The flying, blue, beetle-like creature hovered out of the trees and stared at me with its yellow eyes. It began to move towards me, and as it came within a few yards of me it lurched forward.

"Oh shiiiiit!" I yelled out, raising the pitch of my voice in fear. I instinctively threw a roundhouse kick as it got to me. It connected with full force and the bug fell to the ground.

"Phew, seven years and a second degree black belt do come in handy," I said to myself in a cocky tone.

Then two more Bite Bugs and one of those large, green and pink caterpillar creatures came bumbling out of the forest in my direction. A 2-foot tall beetle was one thing, but a group of them with a massive caterpillar? I don't think so.

I sprinted towards Garden as fast as I could. I'm terrible when it comes to running, but fortunately adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I managed to make it to the pearly gates before those creepy monsters could catch me. Before I made it inside, I glanced back to revel in my success.

_I'll fight you little pests another day, right now I've got bigger things to worry about._

Suddenly I bumped into something in front of me while I was looking back. It felt sort of squishy, and had many tentacles twitching and slithering. I slowly looked up and towering over me was a floating ice-blue creature. A Glacial Eye. I made the obligatory gulping sound as I swallowed the lump in my throat, and before I knew it, it swung its tail up at me and knocked me off my feet. My head struck the ground and everything went black.

My eyes were still closed, but this time I felt the comfort of a soft bed instead of a wooden bench.

_Well that was certainly an interesting dream, definitely one to remember._

I opened my eyes and took a look around.

_This is not my bed, this is not my room!_

To my right was a small, cushioned bench. On the left, a window with a view into another similar room. And behind me, a window allowing some sunlight and air in. I heard a whisk of air and looked up in front of me as a sliding door opened and a short, stocky, older woman walked in. I could tell she was a doctor by her white coat and stethoscope wrapped around her neck. Then I realized who it was.

"Dr. Kadowaki," I said slowly and quietly.

"Ah, it seems you already know my name. So what's yours?"

"Matt."

"Right. How are you feeling?"

"Umm… I don't even know. I'm confused, in disbelief, sore, nauseous, and I have no idea how I got here."

"Well, alright then. I don't really know what to tell you, considering I've never seen you here before."

There was a brief moment of silence before I regained my composure and continued on.

"I need to see Cid, or Squall, or whoever is in charge."

"Don't worry, I've already called for Cid, he'll be here shortly. I would say you have a case of amnesia or some sort of brain damage, especially after whatever gave you that nasty bump and cut on the back of your head."

I reached back and gently touched the back of my head, then winced in pain as it was very tender.

"Stupid monster," I mumbled.

"Yeah you've got to be careful out there. Anyway, I _would_ say you have slight brain damage, but seeing as how you're dressed, the way you act and talk, and your lack of any identification, I think we may have a vastly different scenario on our hands."

She sounded and looked worried. And the way she held her chin in her hand and frowned was not reassuring at all. I rubbed my eyes and leaned back against the pillows supporting me. I brought my hands down to my side and just stared blankly at the ceiling.

The sound of a distant door opening snapped me out of my trance. A man that looked almost exactly like Robin Williams, but with glasses, walked into the infirmary and stood next to the doctor at the room door, examining me. I managed to suppress my chuckles as I saw that Cid really did look like that hairy comedian. Even when playing the game and seeing the low-resolution pixels that made up Cid, I and other gamers had always thought he would like Williams in real life.

He walked into my room, sat down on the chair next to the bed, and smiled warmly at me. He was still dressed in his typical brown pants, red vest, and white shirt, and wearing those small spectacles.

"I hope you're feeling better," Cid said.

He seemed like a genuinely nice, caring person. At any time he could have thrown me out of the Garden and left me to fend for myself with the monsters of the forests and citizens of Balamb. Why should he burden himself with some stranger who came out of nowhere?

"Thank you for letting me stay here. I didn't know what to do. This was my only choice, to come here," I said to Cid.

"I understand… probably more than you think. This isn't the first time we've been in this kind of situation."

I felt suddenly confused. The tables had been turned. Did he mean that they've already had to deal with events like this, someone coming into their world? Sure, I had been plopped into a world I didn't think existed, but I figured I at least knew what was going on. Maybe they knew enough to send me back and get this ordeal done with?

I asked him quickly, "How do you know what's wrong with me? Do you even know where I'm from? Are you saying I'm not the only one to go through this?"

"Slow down," he answered, "I'll explain everything." He leaned back and took a deep breath before continuing.

"There have been others like you. They have shown the same symptoms, and behaved exactly the same when arriving here. You're lucky you ended up in Balamb. There have been reports of people ending up in the gardens in Galbadia and Trabia over the past year."

Ah ha! So I wasn't alone! Surely they would know what to do with me, and maybe I'd be able to meet these other people. I became excited and hopeful, and especially glad I wasn't the only, or the first, one to enter this real-life Final Fantasy universe.

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to see these people."

My heart sunk. What could it be? Were they killed? Did they go insane and completely lose themselves? Then I felt a slight bit of hope as I thought of a better possibility. Did they get to leave quickly? Did they figure out how to send us back?

"One of them could not handle the pressure and stress, and went into a coma almost immediately after arriving. They eventually pulled the plug when it was obvious she wouldn't be waking up. The other was here for a few days before he was taken to Dr. Odine for testing. However he was not able to adapt to our world and couldn't handle life here. He escaped from the lab and his body was found on the outskirts of Esthar a few days later."

My mind was running full speed.

_What's to happen to me? Am I doomed to be a vegetable, a psychopath, a suicidal maniac?_

I stopped thinking. I've got to calm down, take this one step at a time. I took a deep breath and sighed. If I don't relax and go with the flow, I'm going to end up like the others, and I don't want that. I should just enjoy my time here, think of it as a vacation, make some new friends, learn about this new world, and before I know it I'll be back on my own turf.

I thought back to what he said just before, "Wait you said only over the past year? Why not any time before then?"

"Time must pass differently in our worlds. Errr-- at least that's what we've been able to gather."

"Yeah I suppose so. That's good for me, though. At least I didn't come here when everyone else was old geezers. If I didn't have any familiarity to cling to, I'd probably wind up the like the others…"

There was an awkward silence. It's hard to keep a conversation going when someone says something so negative and depressing. After a minute, Cid broke the silence and continued his little information session.

"Anyways, you're our first of these special guests here at Balamb—"

"Please," I interrupted, "don't call me a special guest. I'd like to just fit in as much as possible and I hate getting special treatment or anything like that."

Cid smiled and continued, "Well, we'll try to help you fit in and get you back to your world, but considering the circumstances, you will have to deal with a little bit of special treatment to allow you to assimilate. Anyways, when Dr. Odine had examined the other, he wasn't able to obtain any useful results. He'll probably want to take a look at you, but we'll do that later, much later. We won't let anyone know who you are or where you're from. For now, just relax. Dr. Kadowaki and I think it would be good for you to spend a few days here in the infirmary before you get back out there. This can be a lot to handle, and it would be great for you to take it slow so you're not overwhelmed. I'm sure the 'orphanage gang' will be excited to meet you, especially since they weren't able to meet the others, but we can do that later in the week. Although, tomorrow I will send Squall down here. …Oh that reminds me! I should probably update you on what's gone on since you... well... last saw us."

I looked at him intently.

"It's been about a year since we got out of Time Compression and defeated Ultimecia. Squall has been made Commander of Garden, and even though there isn't a sorceress around to fight, we still go on missions for various countries and organizations, and keep training any who wish to come here. I'm still Headmaster here, but I mostly run the logistical stuff like keeping Garden operational and watching over the students. I'm through with politics; I leave the big decisions up to Squall now." He then leaned forward, "He doesn't like that!" and laughed before moving on.

"Other than that, things are basically the same. Not much has changed, and it's only been a year anyway."

Cid stood up and walked towards the door, then turned around and faced me.

"I'll make sure the doctor takes good care of you. Now get some rest because these next few days are going to be tough."

I was getting ready to lie back down but then I remembered something. "Oh wait, I almost forgot!" I cried out. "When I got here, the Garden looked pretty much the same as it did before it took off and went mobile. Are you guys permanently here again?"

"Yes, now that we have the Ragnarok to go on missions and since we only send a few people on a mission (instead of going to war with an entire Garden as I'm sure you remember), there's no need to drive such a huge hunk of metal around."

"Ah, I see. Well I can't wait to get out of here and check it out!"

He chuckled, "Like I just said, get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

Being cooped up in the infirmary made me anxious. I wasn't allowed to leave my room, and even when I got up to walk around it made Kadowaki nervous. I couldn't see much out of the window either. No one was allowed to talk to me, much less, see me. I could hear mumbled voices outside in the waiting room, but that was the only human contact I got, aside from the doctor occasionally checking in on me and giving me food and water.

I was lying in bed half asleep, staring at the ceiling. It was very late at night, completely dark outside, and silent. I could feel my eyes watering up and my face getting hot. Tears began to roll down my cheeks as I rolled on my side, tightly gripping one of my pillows.

I was stuck here, I had to face it, and there was no way I'd be able to get back. I will never be able to see my family or friends again. Everything I ever knew was gone in the snap of a finger. It's going to be impossible to completely fit in. I don't even know how long I'll last. The others only lasted a few hours to a week. I'm hopeless.

It was morning and I felt weary. Last night had really ruined me. I felt so hopeless. I was always so mellow and easy-going; I just went with the flow, rolled with the punches. I had never been in an entirely new place where I didn't know anyone nor had any direction to go. This was definitely going to be an interesting experience.

I was standing by the window, leaning on the sill, looking out on the sun-covered plains. I heard the whisk of the door open.

"No thanks, doctor, I'm not hungry."

"I'm not here to offer you food," a quiet, but strong voice answered me.

I turned around and smiled. He stepped further into the room and sat down on the chair. I offered my hand for a handshake, but he just looked away.

"Still the same old Squall," I chuckled and sat down on the bed. He really was the same old Squall. Same clothing, same appearance, same attitude; even his face looked exactly like it did in the FMVs, but much more realistic of course.

"Look, let's just get down to business first. It's summer, so classes won't be in session, but you'll probably be here a while, so you may want to consider enrolling to become a SeeD, especially since you've done it before, I guess. Tomorrow I'll take you to meet the rest of the gang."

"Alrighty then, sounds good. How are they doing anyway?"

"Hmm… I should probably update you on them. Quistis is back as an instructor. She was teaching the basic stuff like magic use, GFs, but now she's moving up to stuff like history and politics. Zell is a new instructor and trainer; his classes focus on battle strategies, and physical combat. Selphie and Irvine are usually off doing their own thing at the other gardens, so you probably won't see much of them. They're our unofficial ambassadors I suppose. Don't worry about tomorrow, though, they'll all be here."

"I see," I nodded. "Oh, what about Rinoa?"

This must have struck a nerve with Squall as I could see him flinch a little. He looked down into his lap with his arms folded and elbows on his knees.

"She's back in Timber, doing her resistance thing. …After the elimination of Ultimecia, we realized things weren't so great for us, and we were just together because of the circumstances."

"That sucks, I'm sorry." I really was sincere about it, but he shook it off. "I guess you grow up real fast when you save the world at the ripe age of 17, eh?"

"Sure," he replied unenthusiastically. He looked back down at the floor and stared. I guess he decided to wait around a bit to see if I had any questions. Or maybe he was using this precious time to avoid everyone else in Garden.

"So I guess I won't be seeing much of the gang then? Seems like everyone's broken apart," I told him.

"Yeah, it seems so. The circumstances back then brought us together, like I said before. But after Ultimecia, we all just kind of moved on."

After a minute, Squall stood up slowly and left the room as he told me, "See you tomorrow, along with everyone else."

I sat back down on my bed and leaned back into my pillows and thought about the upcoming meeting.

_It's going to be weird for them considering they don't know anything about me. I just hope they don't ask me too many questions about the place I came from. It'd take forever to explain everything, and I'd probably miss a lot of stuff. I just want to fit right in as soon as possible and worry about the future, not the past._


	2. Plans for the Future

**Legal mumbo jumbo:** I own this story, but not any of the entities it contains. The world and characters belong to Square.

**A/N:** Howdy folks. Sorry this chapter is a bit wordy without much action going on, but it's completely necessary plot-wise. It gets the ball rolling and explains a lot of essential background things and basic plot that needs to get out of the way so the story can get moving. That's not to say this one isn't _completely_ boring, though.

**Previously:** Matt was transported to the Final Fantasy VIII universe and arrived in Balamb, and it has been one year since the defeat of Sorceress Ultimecia. He made it to Garden where he met Dr. Kadowaki and Headmaster Cid. He is due to meet the "orphanage gang", catch up with them, and consider any plans for his future at Garden.

**Chapter 2: Plans for the Future**

I woke up feeling absolutely wonderful. Sure I was nervous as heck about finally meeting the rest of the gang, and even the brief chat with Squall didn't really feel like I actually got to meet him and have a good conversation. Fortunately Dr. Kadowaki supplied me with a few sleeping pills, otherwise I would have been up all night tossing and turning, which would lead to me being completely spaced out and looking like shit on the very first day of my new life here in the universe of Final Fantasy VIII.

I sat there in bed for another minute or two, just stretching my arms and getting excited for the day to come. Then the doctor, with her impeccable timing, walked in the room carrying a tray of breakfast food.

"Good morning," I said cheerfully and smiled at her. "Thank you for the food!"

"Well you're certainly happy, mister."

"You betcha. I can't wait to get out of here!"

Kadowaki put her hands on her hips and frowned.

"I'm just kidding. Thanks for taking care of me, I really appreciate it. But I'm just happy to get out of this room and get some fresh air and meet some new people and see my new home."

"Well eat your breakfast first, and take it one step at a time. I'll go call Cid and tell him you'll be on your way. Oh by the way, you may want to change out of those hospital clothes and into some real clothing."

When I first got there, she gave me a hospital gown to change into and kept my clothes in a bag, and put that in a storage closet. The old clothing was my only memento of my home world, but I didn't want to be reminded yet. Maybe some time in the future I'll pull them out and reminisce. For now, I just need to assimilate into Garden and try to act like nothing happened.

She brought me a small pile of neatly folded clothing and set it down at the foot of the bed, smiled at me, then walked out. I inspected the clothing and was thankful it wasn't those blue and white SeeD trainee uniforms; those were just plain goofy. What I found, instead, was a pair of blue jeans, a black t-shirt, some socks, boxers, and some tennis shoes.

When leaving the infirmary, I felt just like Squall at the opening scene of the game where he walks down the path with Quistis and Garden is revealed. He was beginning his journey, and here I was beginning mine; what a fitting start. It was so strange walking down that path. I had walked that path many times before, but now it was real, and it all felt so new. It was summer so there weren't many people around, but I could still see a few here and there chatting, lying in the sun, or walking to various places. I looked up at the bright blue sky and let the sun warm my face. I smiled. Maybe this place won't be so bad after all? I began walking towards the front of Garden, the Directory to be more exact.

Garden was much bigger than it seemed in the game. The main office and elevator in the center loomed over the whole area, surrounded by fountains. Classrooms circled the entire area on the second floor, like a halo above the ground floor. As I rounded the large central structure, I could see the gang in the distance waiting for me. Suddenly it felt like a massive brick was dropped in my stomach. I felt so nervous, and I couldn't believe what was about to happen. Despite spending a few nights in Garden, it still took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that this wasn't just a videogame anymore.

I regained my composure and approached the group. Cid was standing next to the directory with his back to me, and the five young adults were standing in a row opposite him, chatting amongst themselves.

_I wonder if they're as nervous as I am… Nah who am I kidding, these are SeeDs, they've seen it all. I just hope I don't come off as some bumbling idiot._

As I approached, I saw their heads perk up and Cid turned around. Nothing could have prepared me for this. I never got nervous when meeting new people or going new places, but this was completely different. I was terrified.

They all looked pretty much the same aside from some minor differences.

Quistis was almost my height, even with boots on, but I still had a few inches on her. She was wearing a light red skirt, a red top, but no gloves or sleeves like she usually did. Her hair was let down, but it was much shorter and only went down a little past her shoulders. She also had a pair of small glasses with thin, wire frames.

Next to her was Squall, wearing typical black leather pants, his trademark black coat with white fur, a couple red belts with shells for his gunblade, black gloves, and some boots that a biker might wear. He was my height, but it was hard to tell since he was leaning back against a short wall with his arms folded. His hair was a little bit longer and it covered most of his face.

The bouncy fellow next to him was none other than Zell Dincht. He was much shorter than I expected, standing at about 5'5", nearly half a foot shorter than me. His blonde hair was spiked up in the front, and his facial tattoo twitched when he smiled. He was wearing a black tank top, some blue denim shorts, and hi-top shoes. Since he didn't have a shirt covering his arms, I noticed a similar tattoo on his left shoulder; black barbs that snaked over his shoulder and onto his chest.

Selphie was standing next to Irvine. She was dressed in her typical one-piece (a blue one this time), brown boots, curled brown hair, and a big grin. Irvine was in his usual cowboy attire, a brown trench coat, some jeans with leather chaps, a vest, and a black hat. Seeing the two of them together was slightly amusing. She was barely over 5 feet tall, but he stood at an even 6. He gave a wink as he pointed his finger like a gun and pretended to shoot me.

As I finished my slow pan over the group, I came to Cid who was standing next to me.

"Ah yes, here he is," Cid said, snapping me out of my trance. "Kids, this young man here… err wait a sec. You're older than them aren't you?"

"Uhh.. Y-yeah. I am. Heh. But just by a year or two."

_God, I probably sound like such an idiot. They're all probably laughing at me inside their heads._

"Yes, well anyways," Cid continued, "this is Matt. Now I've informed you of what little we've managed to figure out, but I think you all should find a nice place to sit down and chat. Introduce yourselves; tell him what's gone on in the past year, what's changed and what's still the same. Chat about whatever you like, what he plans to do here, what life was like in his world, anything you feel comfortable talking about. Please try your best to accommodate him and help him out whenever he needs it. This is very difficult for him, and we don't want anything that will lead to what happened to the other two. Alright?"

The group nodded in agreement. Cid then turned me and whispered in my ear, "Good luck!" then walked off.

There was silence for a few seconds, but it felt like hours. I finally decided to say something.

"Umm yeah, so I'm not usually this awkward. This is just fucking crazy what's happened to me these past few days. I'm still trying to regain my composure."

Zell stepped forward and cheerfully said, "Don't worry, man! We've got your back!"

Then Selphie chimed in, "Yeah we're here for ya! You'll have loads of fun here!"

Now it was Irvine's turn, "Like the shorties said, we've got your back. Don't want ya windin' up like those other poor souls."

Quistis joined in, "Yes. It would be a shame for that to happen at this Garden. We'll try our best to get you adapted," then she looked over at Squall since he hadn't said anything yet. "Right, Squall?"

He took the cue, "…Yeah. We'll get things all sorted out."

They all stared at me expectantly. I guess it was my turn to say something.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate that. I don't know what I would've done if I wound up anywhere else in this place, so I'm glad to be here at Balamb Garden, and I look forward to getting to know you all. So… how about we find that nice place to sit down and chat?"

Quistis nodded and said, "Right. How about we go to the quad? It's a nice day out and it'll be good to get some fresh air."

Selphie jumped up and cheered, "Woo-hoo! To the quad!" Then she grabbed Irvine's arm and ran ahead with him stumbling behind, using his other hand to keep his hat on.

Squall started walking ahead and Quistis took up his lead and I followed behind them. Suddenly I felt a slap on my back and turned to my left to see Zell flashing that big grin of his.

"Welcome to Garden, baby!"

I laughed, "Haha, thanks, man."

There was something odd I noticed about Zell. It wasn't anything tangible or external, though. I had some sort of gut feeling about him. I've had that feeling before when I met certain people, and it wasn't a bad feeling. It didn't feel like anxiousness or nervousness, just a feeling that made me think things would be alright and we'd get along well. I thought back to my previous life in my home world. When I first met one of my best friends I had very same feeling, like I somehow knew that one day we'd become good friends.

_Who knows? Maybe Zell and I will become good friends. It does make sense. We're both martial artists, both like to have fun, we're loyal comrades. And he doesn't even know any of this about me, but I guess he'll find out soon enough._

A few minutes later our troupe arrived at the Quad. I was really amazed at how big and open it was. I remember when seeing it in the game, there wasn't much to look at. But being there in person was so much better. The path leading down was surrounded by trees with tables and benches on the sides; a couple people were lounging about, chatting, playing cards, studying. Then we came to an amphitheater of sorts; there was a center stage with a semi-circle of bleachers that went back 5 or 6 rows. Past that was an open area with more benches and some picnic tables. The wall on this area was low, so you could see across the plains and the ocean in the distance. I could only imagine the amazing view this place afforded if Garden were flying.

Selphie and Irvine had already found a table and were chatting with each other. Selphie, being the unending bundle of excitement she was, waved at us as we approached and motioned for us to sit down.

_Yeah, as if we were planning to sit somewhere else_.

As that thought passed through my head I looked over at Squall and saw that he was pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand. He must have been thinking the exact same thing.

Irvine was sitting at the end of one side with Selphie next to him, and I sat down next to her. Squall sat opposite Irvine, followed by Zell and then Quistis across from me.

Selphie started off the conversation by looking over at me and saying, "So Matt, are you excited to be here!? Isn't Garden great?"

"Yeah, I guess so. It's weird; it feels familiar in a sense, but it's totally different being here in person than playing it in a game."

Zell piped in, "Hey what was that like, seeing our world like it was a game?"

Irvine added, "Yeah man, that must've been pretty strange. Tell us about it!"

I proceeded to tell them about the game, giving a summary of all the events I saw from Squall's eyes. Starting with the SeeD qualifier in the Fire Cavern, the test in Dollet, and all the way to the final battle with Ultimecia. I explained to them that everything was in the third person, like they should imagine a camera in the sky watching over them, and that everything they said was printed as text on the screen that the player had to read. I told them that when it came to junctioning, we had menus to go through and could select GFs and magic from lists. Apparently for them, they did it all mentally with the help of their attached GF. I even added that I got to play Triple Triad and how fun (yet challenging, and sometimes frustrating) it was going around collecting all the cards. Even the battle system was a difficult concept to explain, how everyone had HP and certain attacks did a certain amount of damage, and that junctioned magic affected that as well.

After my explanation, I was worried how difficult it would be for me to get used to doing all that in person. Fortunately they reassured me and said that I was very knowledgeable and I should be fine. This brought our conversation along to the next part, and an important one at that.

"Have you considered training to become a SeeD? You could probably do it in just a single year," Quistis said.

Squall spoke up and told me, "You would be a valuable asset to our Garden. Even though it does sound strange, you were there along with us when we fought many battles and endured all that crap that happened not too long ago."

Selphie excitedly added, "Yeah you should totally become a SeeD! It'll be so fun! Me and Irvine have loads of fun traveling, seeing the world, meeting new people. Did Squall tell you, we're like Garden's ambassadors?"

"Yeah he did," I nodded, "That's really cool."

"Being a SeeD is the life," Irvine said. "Getting paid to see the world and fight alongside your comrades, there's nothing like it. You'll have an amazing time."

_Should I really do it? Sure it'd be fun, but it's tough work, and I'd be taking on a lot of responsibility. How long will I be here anyway? Who knows… _

Everyone was staring at me, waiting for my answer.

Quistis sounded a little worried, "Don't pressure him! Give him some time to think about it. He can't be expected to know right this instant."

"Nah it's ok," I quickly replied. "I mean, shit… what else am I going to do here, right? I don't wanna just sit around idly biding my time here. I'm sure it'll be fun, and you guys will soon realize that that's what I'm all about. I've got a new life here; I've got to make the most of it!"

Everyone at the table smiled and Zell looked especially pleased, "Alright, man! And since me and Quistis are instructors here, we'd be happy to help you out if you needed extra tutoring or something outside the classroom."

"Yeah that'd be great," I gratefully replied. "I'm sure some stuff I'll get right away, but other things I'm not so sure about."

Then Quistis smilingly said, "Yes we'd definitely help you out. By the way, do you have any fighting experience whatsoever? What will your weapon be? We'll teach you how to use magic and GFs, but you've still got to learn physical attacks."

"Well I know Zell is going to flip out because of this," I chuckled, "I'm a martial artist; been practicing for seven years, but lately I haven't kept up with it so I'm a little rusty."

Sure enough, Zell did get hyped up. He jumped out of his seat and started his shadow-boxing routine. "Oh hell yeah! See guys? Aren't martial artists so cool!?"

The rest of us at the table sighed and laughed a little.

But then I had something to add, "About the GFs and magic… I know you have to have a GF to use magic, but I really don't want to junction a GF, err at least not often. Yeah, I know it's necessary to become a SeeD here, but I'm concerned about the whole memory loss thing."

Irvine looked over at me and said, "Yeah I hear ya on that one."

I continued on, "It really hits home with me. I'm entering this whole new world and leaving my old life behind. I'd still like to keep those memories around. Especially since if I do go back one day, I won't be completely stupefied and be locked up somewhere because they all think I'm insane…"

Squall said, "Hmm that's a good point. I'm sure I can talk Cid into cutting you some slack and making sure you have to junction as little as possible. You could probably get away with having just one guardian junctioned, just so you can use magic and some abilities. We're not entirely sure on how the memory loss thing works, but we think it's because the GF takes up space in your head, so you have to lose whatever was there before."

Quistis added on, "If you junctioned just one GF but summoned it rarely or not even at all, that space that's being taken up wouldn't increase and you'd have very minimal memory loss. In fact, it'd probably be just like it is as you get older, certain things from the far past are going to be lost anyway."

"Ok," I said, "That sounds fine. I can live with junctioning every once in a while, and it'd only be one GF anyway."

After the discussion on GFs, we talked about my living conditions, and what classes I would take; the logistical stuff. Since it was the summer and Garden wasn't very full, anyone who stayed over the summer lived in a single room in the main dorm. Once the school year started, the young cadets packed into the regular dorms while the older SeeDs moved into the suites. Even though I wasn't a SeeD yet, I was older and sort of like a transfer student, so I'd move into a suite with a roommate. Each suite consisted of two bedrooms, a shared bathroom, and a main room with a small kitchen area, a dining table, and a living area with a couch, table, radio, and television. The way they described it to me, it sounded really nice; I didn't know Garden could afford such great accommodations, but it had been a year later and I'm sure SeeDs had become much more popular after saving the world from a sorceress threatening to destroy it.

I was a little concerned about who my roommate would be, though. Cid told me that no one aside from the orphanage group would know where I was really from and what my situation was, so it'd be awkward with a random roommate. We eventually decided that Zell would be my future roommate. That sounded good to me. I did like him and from what I could tell, we got along fine. And since we were both martial artists and he offered to help me out in my quest to become a SeeD, he'd make a great workout and sparring partner.

When it came to classes, I was told to take some basic placement exams to see where I stood in terms of basic things like math, science, and language; I'd take those tests later in the week. I figured they would be easy enough, especially since I was already halfway through college in my old world and these SeeDs cadets were like kids from high school. However, I would need to take a course on history, another on politics, and the basic things like magic, GFs, as well as courses on combat and SeeD policy and protocol.

With all these classes and living arrangements at Garden, money would definitely be an issue for me. I had no money of my own that existed in this world, and no family supporting me either. Squall said he would talk to Cid and they could work out some sort of loan for me. I would be able to enroll in Garden, and even get a monthly allowance so I could go out and do fun stuff with the rest of the students. Once I graduated and became a SeeD, part of my pay would go towards repaying the loan, something I had no problem with at all. I was impressed and grateful for how helpful and giving they were. I couldn't ask for more. In addition, they'd start off by giving me some money to go into town and get some supplies like toiletries, new clothes, and anything else I could find, so long as the bill remained low.

After a few hours of chatting and discussing plans, it was lunch time and we decided to take a break and head for the cafeteria. On our way there, we ran into Seifer in the hallway. I was very surprised to see him; I had never considered what had become of him after the battle with Ultimecia. Apparently he was accepted back into Garden and was allowed to continue his studies. Though some objected to this, most understood that he was under her control throughout his reign as the Sorceress' Knight, and he really couldn't help it. Also, he made a good leader of the Disciplinary Committee. It had been briefly disbanded when he, Fujin, and Raijin left Garden, and things around the place did seem to get a little hectic at times when it came to the younger cadets. Fujin and Raijin didn't come back to Garden like Seifer did, however; instead, they moved away from the SeeD lifestyle and wanted to start new lives in Deling City.

When I heard all this, I felt bad for Seifer. I had always thought of him as someone who was misunderstood and no one really gave him a chance. I felt especially bad since he must feel so lonely at Garden; his posse had left him, he was forced to fight against his former friends, he was notorious as the Knight assisting in world domination. He was an unfortunate soul that was dealt a shitty hand in life.

Our group approached him and he had a devilish smirk on his face. He was dressed in his typical combination of a gray trench coat, blue vest, and black pants, and his blonde hair was slicked-back as usual.

"Well if it isn't the lovely orphanage gang! Ooh and chicken-wuss is tagging along as usual," Seifer said.

By now everyone was used to his antics and knew that he didn't mean to harm or tease them, it was just who he was. Zell, on the other hand, still didn't take Seifer's insults lying down.

"Seriously, Seifer, stop calling me that. It's so old!"

"Well then you should be used to it, right? I have been calling you that all your life."

I started laughing and everyone turned around to face me. "You guys are still doing this crap? You guys are like a couple of kid brothers!"

I was merely joking around, but Seifer must not have taken it that way. He glared at me and then said, "Well look what we've got here! The gang picked up a fucking comedian!"

Squall stepped in. "Seifer, relax. He's new here and he didn't mean to offend you, right?" he said as he turned his head and looked back at me.

I smiled at Seifer and sincerely replied, "Yeah, man. I just thought you and Zell were funny. No need to get all pissed off."

Squall then turned to the rest of the group, "You guys go on, I'll tell Seifer about Matt's situation. It's best we fill him in, too."

Zell said bitterly, while staring at Seifer, "Yeah come on, let's get out of here. I don't have time to screw around with this idiot." Then his face lit up, "Oh I hope they have extra hot dogs today!" and he ran off.

Irvine sighed and said, "Well that's Zell for ya. Alright c'mon, let's go. See ya later, Seifer."

We all made our way to the cafeteria and Squall stayed behind to chat with Seifer. I felt a little worried after that encounter with him. I really didn't mean to offend him, and I just wanted to show that I wasn't like the orphanage gang he was never exactly a part of. I had never thought of it before, but I did realize that he and I were quite similar and I would probably have a better chance befriending him than the others. We were both older than everyone else, we never really fit in with the core group, neither of us were SeeDs yet, and I, too, at times felt like being a bit rebellious and not wanting to go with the crowd.

I definitely looked forward to getting to know Seifer, but first came lunch. We grabbed some trays, picked out some food and found a big table near the back. Our conversation was filled with nothing but chit-chat. What was my life like back home? What did I do? What were my interests and hobbies? They also talked about themselves and asked me about things I knew or didn't know about them personally.

Selphie and Irvine were making plans for me for the rest of the week. They made an effort to get to know me since they wouldn't be around much later on, and wanted to spend some time with me before they had to go back to traveling and hanging out at the other gardens. Plus they felt obliged since Zell and Quistis would be busy with instructor training and Squall was never around much because of his duties as Commander.

After lunch, Squall went back to the office to get back to his work and the rest of the gang showed me around Garden. The tiring day concluded with setting up my dorm room, which was where I'd be staying for the next two weeks before school was in session.

That night, I laid in bed thinking to myself.

_Ahh, what a wonderful day. I'm loving Garden already. The people here are great, the place is nice. I think I'm going to have lots of fun._

When I first arrived a few days earlier I was nervous and a little scared, but now I felt much better. No wonder those other outsiders couldn't make it very long, they didn't wind up in the right place at the right time. I was lucky to end up in Balamb and be able to meet the stars of the game-turned-reality. They were so helpful and compassionate; I was looking forward to my new life and was actually starting to get over missing my old one.


	3. Back to Balamb

**Legal mumbo jumbo:** I own this story, but not any of the entities it contains. The world and characters belong to Square.

**A/N:** I had a lot of fun with this one. I was originally going to write just one chapter spanning the whole two weeks before classes started, but this one day hanging out with Irvine and Selphie was just so entertaining that I couldn't stop!

**Previously: **Matt met the orphanage gang and even had a run-in with Seifer. They had a long discussion about Matt's future in Garden and it was determined that he would enroll to become a SeeD by the end of the upcoming school year. For the next two weeks before classes start, he'll spend time getting to know the gang a little more and see more of Garden and Balamb.

**Chapter 3: Back to Balamb**

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

_What the…_

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

_Ugh… I don't wanna wake up!_

I heard a muffled voice come through the dorm door. "Matt! Matt, wake up!" It was Selphie.

I got up out of bed, rubbed my eyes, and walked over to the door, still dressed in just my underwear. I opened it to find her getting ready to knock again.

"Wha… What time…" I yawned before continuing, "is it?"

"It's 9 o'clock sleepy head! Now come on! Irvine and I are taking you to Balamb!"

"Balamb? What for? It's way too early to go into town; I'm not a morning person at all," I whined.

"We need to go shopping! Gotta get you some new clothes, some school supplies," she peeked her head in and took a look around the empty room. All that was in there was a dresser, a desk and chair, and the bed. "And definitely some cool stuff for your room," she finished.

"Hey gimme a break," I retorted, "last night was my first night in here. I came here with nothing, mind you."

"Yeah, I know, I know. Just get dressed so we can go! Irvy will be on his way."

"Alright," I sighed. "I'll be ready in two seconds anyway. I just gotta get dressed and use the bathroom. Want me to meet you guys somewhere?" 

"We'll be right outside. Just meet us at the entrance to the dorms! …By the way, take care of that bed head!"

"Huh?"

Selphie simply smiled, then ran off to grab Irvine and I went back in my room. I stared at the bed.

_You look so comfortable right now. I could just lie down on you and fall back asleep right away…_

I was tempted to go back to sleep, but I knew it was hopeless. Selphie would only come back and wake me up again, and this time she would make sure that I didn't go back to sleep. I couldn't imagine her getting mad, but she must be one hell of a nagger.

I gathered my clothes off the floor beside the bed and got dressed. I walked down the hall to the community bathroom. Each floor of the main dorm had two bathrooms, one for men and the other for women, both at either ends of the hall. I secretly hoped I wouldn't run into any floormates on the way to the bathroom, or see any inside. Once I moved into the suites with their own private bathrooms, I wouldn't need to worry about being stealthy.

_No one should be awake at this ungodly hour. I don't care if it is 9am, that's still way too early for me. Especially during the summer!_

Thankfully no one was around and I made my way without incident. I really didn't want to have to explain to someone what I was doing here. Everyone on the floor probably knew each other, especially since it was summer and there weren't that many people around, so the few that were hung out together a lot and got to know each other. Plus, it was way too early for me to even think of a good cover story.

I got to the bathroom, drained myself of the nightly urine stockpile, and then went to wash my hands. I looked up in the mirror and saw what Selphie was talking about. My hair wasn't very long, only 4 or 5 inches if you stood it on end, but somehow it still seemed to point in every which way after a good night's sleep. I finished rinsing off my hands, threw some water in my hair, and then headed off to the entrance of the dormitory.

I arrived to find Irvine looking just as sleepy as I was, and Selphie trying to get him to wake up.

"Howdy," Irvine said groggily.

"Heh, looks like I'm not the only one who's not a morning person, eh?" I chuckled.

Selphie pouted at the two of us and then said, "Well maybe some food will wake you guys up. Do you want to eat here or in town?"

"Doesn't matter to me," I said.

Irvine thought out loud, "Hmm. Food in Balamb is really good, but it costs money. Food in Garden isn't so great, but it's free."

"Well I don't want you guys to have to pay for me. I don't have any money at all. Which reminds me, how were you planning on buying stuff for me today?" I inquired.

"Cid gave us some money. Squall told him about the loan thing." Selphie answered.

"Ok sounds good. How about breakfast on me then? Err, on my loan anyways. Is there enough?"

"Yeah, man, there's plenty. But are you sure you want to pay for it? I feel kinda bad." Irvine said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Selphie added, "Yeah you don't have to! Garden food isn't that bad really."

"No really, it's my treat. It's the least I can do. After all, you guys are taking me to Balamb today and showing me around and helping me get whatever I need," I insisted.

Irvine smiled and said, "Well if it's cool with you, then it's cool with us! Alright let's go to the parking lot."

Selphie jumped up and begged Irvine to let her drive, but he only laughed and said he'd rather do it, especially after seeing her fly the Ragnarok.

We got into Balamb about ten minutes later and parked the car near the garage at the town entrance. Selphie led us over to a nearby restaurant and we sat down in a small booth.

She said to me, "I really recommend the fish. Balamb always has good fish!"

"Fish… for breakfast? That just doesn't seem right to me."

Irvine playfully nudged her and said, "Come on, girl, you're too quirky to offer good breakfast suggestions. I'd say go with the basics, an omelet, or a waffle, or something."

I scanned the menu and found something cheap and basic. "I'll stick with eggs and hash browns. And some orange juice, too."

The waitress came by and took our orders, and we sat around chatting and eating our breakfast when it came a short while later. Selphie was excited to get the day going. Irvine said she loved shopping, regardless of whether it was for herself or for other people. I told them I hated shopping and that I want to get this done with as quickly and painlessly as possible. Irvine just shook his head while smiling nervously, as if to say 'you don't know what you're in for'.

We finished our meals and Selphie led us to our next destination: the clothing store. Despite being in a small town, it certainly had a wide range of styles. Within moments of entering, Selphie ran around in a few aisles and came back to me with some various articles of clothing, begging me to try them on.

"No way! I don't want anything eccentric. I'll just go with the basic shirt and shorts."

"Aw, how boring!" She said, disappointed. "At least just try these on? Pleeeeeeease?"

Her puppy-eyes made me cave in and I agreed to try on a few things, one of which being a cowboy outfit similar to Irvine's.

I walked out of the dressing room and said, "Selphie, I don't get your obsession with cowboys. I look friggin ridiculous! …No offense, Irvine." I chuckled.

He was sitting down on a chair, trying to get whatever rest he could. "There's only room for one cowboy around here anyway," he mumbled, his face buried by his hat.

I finished trying on a couple more outfits, but wound up getting a bunch of shorts, a couple pairs of pants, some generic t-shirts, and a nice dress shirt in case an occasion arose that required something more formal, as well as some jackets and sweaters. It was still the end of summer, but Balamb got very chilly during the fall and winter, and on rare occasions it even snowed.

After the clothing store we went to a shoe store. Selphie and Irvine were busy looking at boots while I browsed through the skate shoes, though they didn't call them skate shoes. Instead they were "board shoes". I assumed it was because they used those hovering T-Boards and had no idea what skateboards with wheels were. I picked out some red ones and brought them to Irvine and Selphie. They really wanted me to try on some cowboy boots, but I didn't give in this time. However, I did agree to let them pick out some dress shoes for me, and I wound up going with some basic, shiny black ones.

We then moved on to getting supplies for my room and for classes. Fortunately we had a car with us, so we'd make a trip back to cram some stuff in before getting more. Once we finished getting my toiletries, notebooks, and all that other stuff a college kid (or SeeD I should say) needs, it was time for lunch. The three of us went to a diner, and this time I tried the fish, much to Selphie's pleasure. We found a bench outside that faced the ocean and ate our lunch. The cool sea breeze felt great and I enjoyed the smell of salt water wafting through the air. It was peaceful listening to the water crash against the docks and the occasional cawing of gulls.

I let out a pleased sigh of relaxation.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Irvine said in response to my sigh.

"Yep." I nodded. "I just love these simple moments. Just sitting here watching the ocean and eating some good fish."

We sat there in silence for a little bit longer until Selphie stood up. "I'm done with my food now. You guys can stay here and relax, but I'm going to go look around the shops some more and hang out with the town folk, ok?"

Irvine looked up at her and pulled her toward him. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and then said, "Alright have fun. Meet us back here when you're done, I don't think we plan on going anywhere."

She ran off back to the main street and left Irvine and I sitting there on the bench alone. He looked at her cheerfully skip back and then turned to me, "She's definitely something."

"Yeah looks like you two have it pretty good."

"I'm so lucky to have her. I really do love her. She means everything to me."

I nodded at him, "Yeah I can tell." Then I turned back to the ocean.

After a few moments of silence, Irvine continued the conversation. "When left your world behind, did you leave anyone behind as well? …If you catch my drift."

"Nah. I'm not exactly the ladies man."

"Have you even had a girlfriend? Or… are you just not into girls?" He asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, of course I've had a girlfriend." Then I laughed. "Haha, and no I didn't mean I wasn't a ladies man as in I'm gay, not that I have a problem with that. I'm just saying I don't really go out looking for girls. I've had a few girls have crushes on me, and I've had some of my own, but I dunno. I just don't put myself out there, I'm kinda shy and most of the time I don't really care anyway."

"What do you mean?" Irvine said, tilting his head.

"Well, like… It'd be nice to have someone I could love. And there are rare moments when I feel a little lonely. But most of the time I'm just too independent for my own good. I've only had one girlfriend, and we were only together for a month. I just got bored with her. I never felt like doing anything with her. Towards the end I mostly just felt like sitting at home on my own, rather than go out."

"Ah, I see. Seems like you just have bad luck. Not all girls are like that, y'know."

"Oh I know. But I'm not very outgoing. I'm sure there are plenty of good girls out there for me, but I just don't bother finding them. Maybe I'm waiting for the perfect love that will never come…"

"Cheer up, Matt. You'll be alright, don't get yourself down."

I laughed, "Naw, man. I'm fine. I guess I'm destined to be a bachelor, but I have no problem with that. Seeing other people in love makes me happy, not jealous."

Some small waves sloshed up against the docks and the two of us went back to watching the ocean.

"So how's the SeeD lifestyle going? I remember you saying you enjoyed it." I stopped the lull in our discussion.

Irvine sighed. "Yeah it's alright. I loved it at first, and you will, too. But now I'm starting to realize it's not what I want with life."

"Oh yeah?"

"I mean, it's fun, like I said, traveling the world and fighting alongside your buddies. But I'm too laidback to do that much longer."

"Yeah I know what you mean. I'm pretty easygoing myself. I don't need anything fancy or wild going on in my life to keep me happy."

"Exactly!" He said. "I just want to settle down somewhere, maybe Winhill or FH. Just get a nice, small place and relax, not have to worry about anything or have a care in the world. I've saved up enough money, too. I can totally do it."

"So what's stopping you? If that's what you want, why don't you do it?"

"It's Selphie. I've brought up the plan with her before, but she just shrugs it off. She's too energetic, she always wants to be doing something. Heck, even if we moved off to some small town, you know she'd try and throw a festival there."

We both laughed at the thought.

"Problem is," I said, "only, like, 5 people would show up!"

We laughed some more and then Irvine continued on. "Ugh. I've been playing it off like I'm happy to be doing this ambassador thing, which I sort of am. But I really don't want to be doing this the rest of my life."

"Sounds like you could just use a vacation. And I mean a vacation longer than summer break."

"That's true. I should just take a year off or something. Just rent a place and get lazy and sit around all day, every day. I just gotta convince Selphie, y'know? I support her and everything, and I never want to leave her side. But …." He trailed off.

"But….? But she doesn't exactly support you?"

Irvine slumped over and put his head on his hands and looked out to sea.

"I'm no relationship expert or anything, but maybe you should just talk to her again. Tell her you're serious. Tell her that you've been going around doing what she wants, and it's time she compromises and does what you want. At least for a little while anyway. I'm sure she'll understand. She's so happy-go-lucky and enthusiastic, I think she could handle it without getting all emotional and shit."

He took his head off his hands, crossed his arms, and looked down at his lap. "I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and I figure I'll just talk to her when we get back to traveling. We're heading to Trabia in a couple weeks, she'll be happy to see her old friends again."

"What's happened to Trabia now? It was in shambles when I last saw it."

"Yeah they're slowly rebuilding. Things have gotten a lot better there. It's real nice, you oughta come see it some time."

I smiled, "I definitely will. …Hey! Why not just settle there for a while? Spend this school year over there, help rebuild. I'm sure Selphie will love the idea. You'll be able to settle down in one place and she'll be able to hang out with her old friends for a while. It'll be good for both of you."

Irvine pondered the idea, "I guess I could try that out. The Trabians are nice people and I wouldn't mind hanging around them. …Oh, but I just hope Squall and Cid will sign off on it."

"Oh I'm sure they will. Just tell them your situation, tell them you need a bit of a break."

I sat back in my seat and looked across the ocean, then slowly turned my head and observed town. Off in the distance I saw Selphie in her yellow dress running our way.

I patted Irvine on the back and said, "Cheer up, man, you'll be fine. Here she comes, by the way."

The two of us stood up and walked in her direction, meeting her halfway. She came back with a few bags of her own and had a huge grin.

Irvine looked at her bags and said, "Hey Sefie, I thought you said you were just going to look?"

Selphie just grinned. "Yeah, well you know me! Anyways what should we do next? Anything else you need, Matt?"

I did a quick mental checklist and couldn't think of anything to buy, but there was one thing I needed. "Well now that I think of it, I could use a haircut."

Irvine and Selphie looked at me confused. They were used to long hair, but for me, touching my eyebrows was too long. We found a barber shop and I went in and sat down. I asked for a buzz and within 15 minutes I was out of there. My even shorter hair surprised Selphie and Irvine even more. She came up and ran her hand over the soft, freshly-cut hair and giggled.

"Irvine feel how soft and short it is!"

He reached forward and instead of being gentle like Selphie was, he shook my head vigorously and laughed, "C'mon let's get outta here! And I hope you plan on joining the Galbadian Army with that kind of haircut."

After the quick stop at the barber, we headed back to the car and drove towards Garden. It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to touch the horizon. I looked out the back window of the car and saw the glimmer of the sun reflecting off some of the buildings in Balamb. Suddenly Irvine slowed down the car and pulled it to the side of the road.

"Why are you stopping?" I asked.

"I saw you looking out the window. I figured we might as well stop, nothing much to do in Garden anyway. Might as well hang out here for a bit," Irvine responded.

Selphie jumped out of the car and happily exclaimed, "Ooh wow! So pretty!"

Irvine walked over to the trunk and pulled out his gun and Selphie's nunchaku. They wanted to be prepared in case any monsters stumbled upon us in our moment of relaxation.

The three of us sat down on the grass, facing towards the sunset over Balamb. Irvine set his gun down between us, and Selphie sat down in his lap. He put his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.

We sat there for a while in silence, just watching the sun set. Occasionally Selphie would giggle when Irvine tickled her and then they'd steal a kiss or nuzzle. Then they'd look over at me embarrassed. I'd laugh and tell them it didn't matter and I wasn't watching. At one point I looked over and saw Irvine's gun next to me. He saw me looking at it, then looked up at me and winked.

"I've never shot a gun before, strange as that sounds." I told him.

"Go for it, man. I don't mind."

"Really? Sweet! Just make sure I'm holding it right and all that. I don't want to hurt myself." I said excitedly as I stood up.

I picked up the gun and pointed it off towards the beach. Irvine examined my stance and told me to go ahead. I fired the shotgun and jumped a little at the sound. Firing that gun made me feel full of power; seeing the small explosion at the end of the barrel, feeling the gun recoil and the force flowing through my hands and arms.

I turned around to Irvine and grinned widely. He saw that I obviously enjoyed it.

"Now try and hit something! Let's go find a Bite Bug," he beckoned.

We walked away from the car for a bit and strolled through the plains. Selphie was ready with her nunchaku, seeing as how I had Irvine's weapon and he was defenseless. Even though it was only a small bug, we still wanted to be prepared.

Eventually we came to one hovering on it's own near the edge of a small forest. I aimed, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. A burst of blue goo flew everywhere and the bug was demolished.

"Whoa shit, that was awesome!" I shouted.

"Haha, yeah it's pretty fucking cool, huh?" Irvine acknowledged.

While I was busy reveling in my victory, a large caterpillar suddenly came bounding out of the forest and knocked me on the ground.

_Oh shit, not this again! Why does this always happen to me!?_

The caterpillar was on top of me, trying to bite at my face. I held the barrel of the gun with one hand and the handle with the other and was using it to force the monster's head away from mine. Selphie immediately ran over and started bashing it with her nunchaku. I had monster spit all over my face and was beginning to get over the initial fright and I became angry instead, as adrenaline flowed through my veins. Eventually the Caterchipillar got distracted by Selphie and backed off for an instant. At that moment I quickly pointed the gun at its head and hit it point-blank. Green slime and guts flew onto my arms, face, and clothing, and the monster slumped over to the side.

"Eww, sick!" I said as I stood up and wiped myself off.

Selphie came over and brushed some off my back and I returned Irvine's gun as he brushed more guts off my shoulders. We walked back to the car and laughed over the brief encounter. Irvine started up the car and we headed back to Garden. I looked forward to cleaning up and hanging out with the rest of the gang for the remainder of the evening.


	4. Home at Last

**Legal mumbo jumbo:** I own this story, but not any of the entities it contains. The world and characters belong to Square.

**A/N:** I had a lot of fun writing this, but I just don't know if I can continue it any longer. School is dominating my life and I just don't have much free time anymore. I was really proud of this story, but I'm sorry I won't be able to keep it going.

**Previously: **Matt took a trip to Balamb with Selphie and Irvine to stock up on necessities for the upcoming school year. Irvine revealed feelings of wanting to quit being a SeeD and find a place to settle down with Selphie, and Matt was caught off-guard by a monster yet again.

**Chapter 4: Home at Last**

I had just woken up, but still had my face buried in my pillow. I wanted to go back to sleep, but my body wouldn't let me. My mind said sleep, but my body said get out of bed. I finally mustered up enough strength to lift my head up and open my eyes.

_What the fuck!? Holy shit! How!? How can this be!? Was it all a dream!?_

I looked around my room. It was no longer my room in Balamb Garden anymore, but my room from the old world I left behind. Was it possible that I had dreamt up the whole week I had spent in Balamb and at Garden in just a single, short nap?

Sure enough I was dressed in the same clothing that I was wearing when I went to sleep earlier that day. I got up off the bed and went over to the PlayStation. I found my Final Fantasy VIII case and opened it up, and of course, there were only 4 discs.

_Wow, what a strange dream. It felt so real! Oh well, I'm glad it's over with!_

At first I felt a little disappointed since I had fun during my short stay and I was looking forward to getting to know everyone better. I hadn't even begun any of my SeeD training yet, either! In any case, I was better off in my own world and not some videogame world that manifested itself as a dream in my head. It would be a while before I ever touched that game again. I picked up the case and put it up high on a shelf, away from the other games and out of view. Hopefully I'd forget it was there and I wouldn't be tempted to play it again and never have to go through any of this nonsense anymore.

I took a look outside my window and remembered what I thought earlier, before I went to sleep.

_Yes, it is a beautiful day. And this time, I think I'll go outside, regardless of how hot it is. Screw hyper-realistic dreams that mess with my head!_

I put on my shoes and headed for the front door. I opened it up, smelled the fresh air, and stepped out into the sun and let it warm my skin. I needed to take a walk to clear my head.

_Goodbye Irvine and Selphie, that day in Balamb was fun. Goodbye Zell, I looked forward to being your roommate. Goodbye Quistis and Squall, I really was excited to be at Garden and learn from you and become a SeeD. Goodbye Balamb Garden._


	5. The Woman in Red

**Legal mumbo jumbo:** I own this story, but not any of the entities it contains. The world and characters belong to Square.

**A/N: **I know, I know; I'm evil and mean and I shouldn't play gimmicks like that. You didn't really think it was over, did you? Once again, I have to take care of logistics and cover some bases with this chapter. And in case you're wondering, I'm not really all that obsessed with a certain female in FF8, but making my in-game persona like that is entertaining!

Also, I apologize profusely for this taking so long! I was on track at the beginning, but school and work completely overwhelmed me to the point of me nearly forgetting about this. As always, reviews help boost my confidence and motivate me to get off my lazy butt and write! I've managed to get a bunch of scenes planned out, but the only problem is connecting them, so forgive me if things move very quickly after this chapter. I love filling in the little moments and details, but this story would drag on forever. Anyways, thanks for bearing with me and I'm glad to get back at it!

**Previously: **Matt took a trip to Balamb with Selphie and Irvine to stock up on necessities for the upcoming school year. Irvine revealed feelings of wanting to quit being a SeeD and find a place to settle down with Selphie, and Matt was caught off-guard by a monster yet again.

**Chapter 5: The Woman in Red**

I had just woken up, but still had my face buried in my pillow. I wanted to go back to sleep, but my body wouldn't let me. My mind said sleep, but my body said get out of bed. I finally mustered up enough strength to lift my head up and open my eyes.

I thought about the dream I just had while it was still fresh in my mind. If I didn't think of it now, it would slip away and I'd never be able to remember it ever again.

I dreamt that I was back home again. Well I guess I shouldn't say "home", but rather, my old world. This new world had become my new home, and even though it had only been a week, I was actually quite used to calling Garden my home. Although there was a part of me that was glad it was just a dream, I still felt a little depressed because of it. In that dream I was finally back where I belonged and the whole ordeal was unexplainably over.

I threw my legs out of bed, sat up, and took a glance around the room. It was quite a mess. After that day in Balamb, I was too lazy and tired to unpack everything, so there were various piles of clothing and boxes of random crap like books, notepads, a backpack, and all the other miscellaneous school supplies, as well as necessities for my room like an alarm clock, a small fan, and there was even a box in the corner filled with my toiletries. Of course, I'd only be in that room for a few more days. During the upcoming weekend I would move into the suite with Zell and we'd get to spend a week unpacking and setting up before classes started, so there was really no need to waste time spreading out my stuff if I was just going to move it again so soon.

Since I wasn't able to fall back asleep, I picked up a towel, washcloth, some shampoo and soap, and headed towards the showers in the bathroom at the end of the hall. I preferred to take showers at night before I went to sleep, but I had nothing better to do at the moment and standing up in the shower, getting every inch of my body soaked with water would help me wake up.

After 5 minutes of actually washing my hair and body, and 20 just standing there under the showerhead, I dried off, got dressed in clean clothes, and walked back to my room. By then it was 8 am (or 08:00 as I soon learned; their world all went by military time) and I figured the cafeteria would be open for breakfast, so I headed that way.

The smell of warm food filled the air as I entered the near-empty cafeteria. Light was shining through the glass ceiling and the granite floor was illuminated. Even though I hated mornings, the one part I did like about them was how peaceful it could be. I picked up a tray from a cart near the entrance and browsed through the various stations of food. Once I had my eggs, potatoes, a bowl of cereal, and some water, I made my way to the seating area. I spotted Zell among the four or five other students, and approached him.

He didn't see me walk up to him since he was busy reading a manual of some sort.

"Hey, Zell."

He jumped a little in surprise and quickly looked up. "Oh! Hey, what's up."

I laughed and said, "Sorry, man, I didn't mean to spook you. Mind if I sit down?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. And don't worry, I was stuck reading this stupid instructor training booklet. We've got training all this week, and I'm a first-time instructor, so I gotta study and review some stuff I forgot from a long time ago."

I sat down across from him and began eating.

Zell put down his book and asked, "So what brings you here so early in the morning? Selphie said she had a tough time getting you and Irvine up the other day."

I finished chewing some food and swallowed, "I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to come by and get breakfast."

"How do you like those crappy dorm beds? The ones in the suites are much nicer; I can't wait to move in this weekend!" He sounded genuinely excited, even over a simple thing like a bed.

"Eh, they're alright I guess. I didn't have much trouble falling asleep, but I did have a crazy dream." I continued on and told him about my dream of being back in my own bed in my own world.

"Whoa, man, that's strange! And you said it felt so real?"

"Yeah it did. Who knows, maybe I was back in my own world for a brief moment there…" I trailed off, sounding a little saddened.

Zell noticed this, and leaned forward and grinned reassuringly, "Don't worry, Matt, you'll make it back one day!"

I nodded, "We'll see. It was weird, though. I was kind of happy to be back in my own world, but I did miss this one. I've only just got here. I'd still like to get know you guys and spend a lot more time here. This will be a very long and fun vacation for me, in a sense." I chuckled at the thought.

"Yeah it'll be a lot fun, becoming a SeeD. Hey! We should start training together! I'll teach you everything about martial arts, and you can learn about combat, oh and you'll probably have to take a class on magic and the occult, I love that stuff!" Zell got carried away in his excitement. I couldn't tell if this was because he was a morning person, or if he was always this energetic and enthusiastic.

I laughed, "Alright, Zell, calm down. We'll have plenty of time to train and do that other stuff. When do you finish your instructor training?"

"We finish up on Friday, and then we've got a week off to get settled into our new rooms and have a break before classes start," he answered.

"Well how about we start training next week, then. In the meantime I'll visit the training center and try to get started on my own." I figured I would be able to handle a Grat or two on my own, live targets were much more fun than a static heavy-bag. But then again, I didn't fare too well against more than a few Bite Bugs and a Caterchipillar.

"You guys don't happen to have a gym here, do you?" I asked Zell.

"Oh of course we do! It's upstairs above the training center, just take the elevator up and walk down the hall to the right. It's got some weights, workout equipment, and even a small pool!"

"Ah thank god for that, I've already had enough trouble with monsters. I can hold off on those for a bit." I said, relieved.

I continued eating a little bit more food and Zell studied his manual some more and then he paused.

"Wait, what was that you said?" Zell asked.

"Huh?" I was confused.

"After I described the gym. What did you say after I described the gym?"

"Umm… I've had enough trouble with monsters, I can fight some more later." I said, even more confused than before.

"No, no, before that." Zell inquired further.

I thought for a few seconds, trying to think what I said before that. Then it finally came to me, "Thank god for that, I've already—"

"That!" Zell exclaimed, interrupting me.

"Thank god for that?" I asked. "What's the big deal?"

"What does that mean? Is it some weird phrase or dialect from your world?" Zell wondered.

"Oh. It's just… like… a phrase we say, I guess." I still wasn't completely sure what to say, but then I remembered some brief trivia from the game. "Wait a sec! Yeah, I know now. You guys say things like 'Thank Hyne', or 'Oh my Hyne'. Where I come from, we use the word 'god'. It's kind of like the same thing."

"Mmm, ok that explains it. At first I was wondering what kind of gibberish you were talking about." Zell said, laughing a little.

"Well don't worry about it. It's kind of ingrained in my head, just something that's part of my speech. You'll probably hear me say it a lot more often, so I guess just try to ignore it, or laugh at me, or whatever," I reassured him.

I continued eating my breakfast and Zell went back to reading his manual. A few minutes later Quistis joined us and she and Zell talked about what they'd be going over in the instructor training. For a while we sat and chatted until it was nearly 09:00. The two instructors had to get going, and I was about to head back to my room.

Quistis suddenly turned around to me, "Oh Matt, I almost forgot. You have a couple things you need to do today. You need to get your picture taken and an ID card made, then you'll have to take those placement tests we talked about."

"Oh boy, sounds like fun," I said sarcastically while rolling my eyes.

She giggled then continued on, "Just take the elevator up to the second floor and cross the bridge. Then go down the hall to the left a little bit and you should see a Student Affairs Office. They know you're coming so just tell them your name and they'll tell you what to do and where to go."

I nodded, "Cool, thanks."

Quistis stood there for a few seconds, staring at me. It felt a little awkward and I was wondering if she had anything else to tell me.

Then she snapped out of her trance and said, "Yes, well I'll see you around." She turned back and headed toward the entrance to the cafeteria where Zell was waiting for her.

I was a bit perplexed by Quistis' shyness. In the game she always seemed in control, was assertive, and direct. I chuckled and thought,

_Maybe she likes me? That'll be the day! There's no way I could get a stunning beauty like her._

Quistis was one of the best-looking women I had seen. She wasn't what I would call "hot". I reserved "hot" for women who were good-looking, but in almost a whorish way; the ones who wore too much makeup and aged quickly. I could see Quistis as being the kind of girl who looked cute no matter what. She didn't need makeup, it didn't matter if she was wearing glasses or not, had her hair up or down, she was consistently gorgeous. I didn't know how much time I spent standing there thinking about Quistis, but I realized it must have been a while.

_Oh, wow. Maybe I'm the one who likes her?_

Back in my home world I didn't have my eyes set on anyone, and wasn't really interested in a girlfriend. But here in Balamb Garden, after just a few days, I was already picturing myself with a lovely young instructor. I just wanted to stroke her creamy skin, smell her strawberry blonde hair.

_My god, I must be madly in love with her or something. Anyways, you've got to focus! No time to think about her right now, gotta take those stupid tests and get that I.D._

I snapped out of my spell and exited the cafeteria.

I found the office Quistis mentioned and talked to the student employee there. I got my picture taken, filled out some basic information, and then followed his directions to a nearby classroom.

The room was completely empty. There were about twenty desks for the students, and a large blackboard in the front, with a desk for the teacher. Unlike the classroom I first saw Squall in, during the game, these desks didn't have any computers, and were much closer together. It must have been one of their smaller, low-tech rooms. I tapped on the desk and twiddled my thumbs for a few minutes until an instructor entered.

We introduced ourselves and she explained the procedure. I'd have to take three tests, each two hours long. The subjects were math, science, and writing. After that there would be a few brief SeeD quizzes, just to see how much I knew about things like magic, GFs, and other aspects that were part of SeeD curriculum, yet were simple gameplay mechanics for someone like me.

When the instructor mentioned science, I hoped that physics, chemistry, astronomy, and the like worked the same in their world as they did in mine. I was good at science and didn't think I'd have a problem with the test so long as there weren't any curveballs.

_Maybe gravity doesn't exist on their planet—wait a sec, maybe they don't even call it a planet! Are there other planets in their solar system? How close are they to the sun?_

My mind began to run a mile a minute and I nearly panicked. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I had finished two years of college in the real world, but this SeeD stuff was just high school level. This should be a piece of cake.

Six long hours later I handed in the last of my exams. She set down the book she was reading and pulled out a small stack of SeeD quizzes.

I groaned, "Oh, man! I almost forgot about those."

She smiled and reassured me, "Don't worry. These will be easy."

I took them from her and sat back down at my desk. I really wasn't worried at all. In fact, the placement tests I took were quite simple and I felt I nailed nearly every question. Hopefully I'd pass them all and get away with taking just one year of classes before becoming a SeeD. It would be a terrible experience to be dropped into a fun and exciting new world, only to have to go back to school for years on end.

The SeeD quizzes were actually a bit of fun, and I managed to do alright considering I had played through the game not too long ago. It asked questions ranging from what cards can refine to what items, and what elementals certain Guardian Forces are.

I finished quickly and was happy to be done. Sitting in a desk writing for hours on end and taking multiple tests had given me a nasty headache. Once I handed everything in, I went back to my room to take a nap.

I awoke an hour or so later and thought what to do next. Without any real friends in Garden yet, and the orphanage gang busy, I was left bored. I would have gone to see what Irvine and Selphie were up to, but I didn't even know where they lived. As a matter of fact, I knew where no one lived; I was just lucky enough to have them find me or bump into them at other places.

I decided to check out the gym. I got dressed in some workout clothes and recalled Zell's instructions. It's a shame the gym wasn't shown in the game, it was a pretty cool place. In one room were some free weights, another room had machines, then there were several other small rooms, some with punching bags, others with soft mats on the floor and mirrors on the wall. At the far end towards the back was a line of bike machines and treadmills. The coolest part was that there were panes of glass instead of a wall, and it overlooked the main training center. I could see some monsters roaming about, and even caught a glimpse of a couple students running past them towards the "secret area".

_Oh, kids. Can't contain themselves… Maybe someday Quistis and I will go there. Oh no, not Quistis again!_

I couldn't help but notice she was infiltrating my thoughts. I really didn't like feeling this way. There was nothing I could do, and I let a simple pause in a conversation get the best of me. I didn't stand a chance with her, and I needed to pull my head out of the clouds and just get a good workout in.

After about an hour and a half of riding a bike and lifting some weights I headed out. On my way out I passed the pool and took a look inside. It was a small one with just 3 lanes and was the kind that had the length of half the Olympic size. I decided that tomorrow I'd have to go for a swim. I was on a swim team as a child and had always loved swimming, but never had much time for it when I got older. I smiled to myself and hoped to bring back some fond memories and get back into it again.

_I wonder if Quistis goes for hot swimmers with six-packs?_

I shouldn't have woken up that morning. I was hopelessly attracted to a girl that would soon be my instructor and probably my personal tutor as well. All kinds of thoughts entered my head when I remembered her offer to help me outside of class with any school work. If anything, this little crush would get me motivated to get back into shape and do well in classes to impress her.

Once I made it back to the dorms I showered off and then tried to organize my room so that things would be somewhat tidy and to kill some time. Just a few days earlier I was scared of running into any fellow students since I wasn't quite sure what I would say or if I would be able to interact with them without coming off as a lunatic who thought he was from another world. But at this point, I wished classes were in session and much more people were moved in. I was bored out of my mind with no one to talk to or hang out with and nothing in my room to entertain me.

I considered going to the library, but its hours were very limited during the summer, and it wasn't open at the moment. Once the hours were expanded during the school year, I would probably be spending a lot of time there, but not to get any reading done. No one around here had any personal computers; the ones in certain classrooms weren't very equipped and mainly had instructional programs on them, but I expected the computers in the library to be connected to some kind of world wide web. Back in the old world, if I was bored I could always peruse about the internet and find something entertaining, but here in Balamb Garden, I wasn't sure what to do instead. Perhaps Esthar would have been a better place for me to end up? It was definitely more technologically advanced, but then again, the people there probably weren't as friendly or social (aside from their President of course!).

Thankfully, my boredom ended when I heard a knock on the door. It was Zell and Quistis. They were going to dinner and invited me to come along; Squall, Selphie, and Irvine were going to meet us at the cafeteria.

Dinner was pretty uneventful, just petty conversation, filled with occasional laughter. I kept finding my attention being diverted towards Quistis, and it was annoying me. No matter how hard I tried I kept stealing glances at her, or I stopped listening to the conversation and got lost in my own world of thought. I didn't think it was noticeable, but a few times the gang would ask me if I was ok, and then joke that I was starting to act like typical Squall.

Once we finished, it had gotten late and everyone headed to their rooms. Zell and Quistis asked me if they should wake me up the next morning for breakfast again, but I was too tired and wanted to sleep in, so I declined. I got back to my room and immediately hit the sack and passed out.

I spent the next few days exercising, browsing the library's catalogue and using their computers, as well as hanging out with the gang when they weren't busy. I was excited when move-in day finally came around. Zell came over to my room in the late morning and we went to have lunch, and then moved our stuff into the nice suites.

The suite was better than any dorm room I had ever had. There was a central living room area with a couch, TV set, and radio, and a little kitchen area was off to the side. On either end of the living area was each of our bedrooms. The rooms were a bit cozy, but I since I didn't have much belongings, I liked that it was small. In the bedroom was a bed, a desk, a dresser, and a small closet.

Zell and I spent all day moving our stuff in, chatting, and lounging about. Much to my liking, Zell wasn't 100 percent hyper all the time. I'm more of a laid-back, mellow kind of guy, so I liked sitting around doing nothing with my downtime. Zell enjoyed the same, but only every so often. Most of his free time was spent outdoors, training or just walking around and visiting people.

Once I finally got everything situated in my room so I wouldn't have to worry about anything tomorrow, I laid my tired body down in bed and got ready to pass out.

_Well it's official now. Welcome to your new, and more permanent home._


End file.
